Unregistered students cost councils millions

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With millions of kronor at stake, university towns are calling for students to register themselves in the area rather than remaining registered in their home towns. Every year, say local councils which host universities, they are missing out on a major source of funding.

Every resident between the ages of 20 and 65 generates an income of around 9,000 kronor for the council in funding designed to balance costs between local authorities. The southern university city of Lund is thought to be losing around nine million kronor per year.

"This is big money for the councils, so it's important that students get on top of it. There are even incentives for the students - for example, it means they can get home insurance, childcare and housing benefits here," said Daniel Svärd, in Lund council's statistics department, to Svenska Dagbladet.

One of the reasons for the fact that the problem is worst among students could be that they often have unofficial rental agreements.

The Swedish Tax Board estimates that between 40,000 and 100,000 people are registered at the wrong address in Sweden. The agency says it is now planning an information campaign.

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